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The Ultimate Guide to Genshin Impact's Best Starti
The Ultimate Guide to Genshin Impact's Best Starti
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genshinguide
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Oct 23, 2025
8:05 AM
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Genshin Impact, the vast and beautiful world of Teyvat, is an adventure waiting to unfold. As a new Traveler, one of the first crucial decisions you'll face is choosing your starting character. While the game showers you with options as you progress, your initial pick sets the tone for your early game experience. This Genshin Guide will break down the best starting characters available, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and how they can help you conquer those initial challenges.
Understanding the Early Game Context
Before diving into specific characters, it’s important to understand what "starting characters" mean in Genshin Impact. These are the characters you get for free, primarily through the early stages of the Archon Quests, or via the Beginner's Wish banner (which guarantees a 4-star character).
In the very beginning, your needs are straightforward: reliable damage output, good elemental application, and decent survivability. You won't have access to complex artifact sets or powerful 5-star constellations, so raw utility and ease of use are king.
The Twins: Aether or Lumine?
Your very first choice is between the male Traveler (Aether) or the female Traveler (Lumine).
The Traveler (Aether/Lumine)
Pros:
Free and Accessible: You start with them, no Primogems needed.
Adaptability: As you explore Teyvat, the Traveler can switch elements by interacting with Statues of the Seven (Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, and soon, all others). This flexibility is unmatched early on.
Anemo Utility (Early Game MVP): The Anemo version of the Traveler is fantastic for grouping enemies and spreading initial elemental effects, which is crucial for triggering Vaporize or Melt reactions with your early team members.
Cons:
Lower Damage Ceiling: While useful, their base damage output often lags behind dedicated DPS units, even at lower adventure ranks.
Gacha Dependency (Later On): Their strength heavily relies on unlocking new elemental forms, which takes time and exploration.
Verdict: Don't stress over this choice too much. They are a permanent, flexible part of your team. Pick the one whose design you prefer, as they will always serve as an excellent utility support/sub-DPS once you unlock Anemo or Dendro.
The Starter 4-Stars: Your First Real Teammates
After the initial prologue, you gain access to a set of free 4-star characters through the storyline and the Beginner’s Wish banner. These characters form the backbone of your early roster.
Amber: The Pyro Archer
Amber is often the butt of many early-game jokes, but her utility is criminally underrated for new players.
Strengths:
Elemental Application (Pyro): Amber is one of the only free Pyro sources early on. Pyro is essential for cooking, lighting torches, and triggering crucial reactions like Melt and Vaporize.
Puzzle Solving: Her Baron Bunny (Elemental Skill) is indispensable for activating pressure plates and solving many of Teyvat's environmental puzzles that require a Pyro source or a decoy.
Range: As an archer, she provides ranged damage, which is vital for hitting distant targets or enemies like Cryo Slimes before you get high-level Claymores.
Weaknesses:
Low Damage Output: Her base damage, even with basic artifacts, is quite low. She won't be your main damage dealer.
Clunky Skill: Baron Bunny can sometimes be difficult to place perfectly.
Role in Early Game: Essential utility support and puzzle solver. Use her Elemental Skill to distract enemies while your main DPS sets up reactions.
Kaeya: The Cryo Sword User
Kaeya is often overlooked, but he provides fantastic synergy and consistent Cryo application.
Strengths:
Consistent Cryo Application: His Elemental Skill has a very short cooldown, allowing for frequent Cryo application, which is fantastic for setting up Freeze reactions if you pull a Hydro character later, or Melt reactions with Pyro characters.
Mobility: His Elemental Burst, Glacial Waltz, follows him around, offering passive Cryo damage and area control without needing to stand still.
Good Starter DPS: Among the free characters, Kaeya often has the highest potential as a main or sub-DPS early on, especially if you get a good F2P weapon for him.
Weaknesses:
Melee Dependency: Being a melee character means he needs to be close to the action, increasing risk when you lack strong shields or healing.
Less Puzzle Utility: He doesn't solve many unique overworld puzzles compared to Amber.
Role in Early Game: Excellent sub-DPS or occasional main DPS. His Burst provides reliable background damage and elemental synergy.
Lisa: The Electro Catalyst User
Lisa is the first Electro character you acquire, bringing much-needed Electro application to the early roster.
Strengths:
Area of Effect (AoE) Damage: Her charged attack chains lightning between nearby enemies, making her great for clearing small groups quickly.
Elemental Skill Utility: Her hold skill can paralyze enemies briefly, offering crucial crowd control when overwhelmed.
Catalyst Access: As a catalyst user, she triggers reactions like Electro-Charged (with Hydro) or Superconduct (with Cryo) reliably without needing specific weapon types.
Weaknesses:
Slow Attack Speed: Her base attack animations are quite slow, making her feel sluggish when spamming normal attacks.
High Energy Cost for Burst: Her Burst requires a significant amount of energy, which can be hard to build early on.
Role in Early Game: Elemental reaction enabler and AoE support. Use her skills primarily to trigger Electro reactions rather than relying on raw Normal Attack damage.
Barbara: The Free Healer (Acquired at AR 18)
While not strictly available at the very start, Barbara is a guaranteed free character upon reaching Adventure Rank 18, and she fundamentally changes the survivability of your early teams.
Strengths:
Unmatched Free Healing: Barbara provides consistent, area-of-effect healing that allows you to ignore most low-level enemy attacks without worrying about dying.
Hydro Application: Her Elemental Skill applies Hydro to enemies and your active character. This is a double-edged sword, but great for setting up Vaporize or Electro-Charged.
Weaknesses:
Inflicts Wet Status: Her skill constantly applies Hydro to your active character, making them extremely vulnerable to being frozen by Cryo enemies. This is her single biggest drawback early game.
Long Cooldown on Skill: Her skill has a long uptime, meaning downtime between healing bursts.
Verdict: A massive quality-of-life upgrade. Get her as soon as you hit AR 18. She single-handedly solves the survivability issues faced by new players using only Amber, Kaeya, and Lisa.
The Best F2P Starter Team Composition (The "Free Roster")
When combining the guaranteed free characters, here is the strongest early-game setup:
Team Comp: Traveler (Anemo/Geo) + Kaeya + Amber + Lisa (until AR 18)
Team Comp (Post-AR 18): Traveler (Anemo/Geo) + Kaeya + Barbara + Amber/Lisa (Flex Slot)
Why this works:
1. Elemental Coverage: You have access to Anemo/Geo, Cryo, Pyro, and Electro (or Hydro). This covers almost every elemental necessity for puzzles and early Abyss floors.
2. Reaction Potential: Kaeya (Cryo) + Amber (Pyro) = Melt. Lisa (Electro) + Kaeya (Cryo) = Superconduct (Physical DMG boost for Claymore users you might pull later). Kaeya (Cryo) + Barbara (Hydro) = Freeze.
3. Utility Balance: You have ranged damage (Amber), melee damage (Kaeya), AoE/crowd control (Lisa/Traveler), and healing (Barbara).
Analyzing the Beginner’s Wish Banner: Guaranteed 4-Stars
The Beginner’s Wish banner is a discounted pull that guarantees one 4-star character and one 4-star weapon. The characters you can get here are crucial as they fill gaps in your free roster.
Home page: https://genshin.guide/
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